After earning an LL.B. from the University of the Punjab in Lahore, Sharif joined his family’s influential House of Ittefaq (Ittefaq Group), an industrial conglomerate with interests in sugar, steel, and textiles. Entering politics, he served as a member of a provincial council in Punjab; in 1981 he was appointed finance minister for the province, and, following elections in 1985, he rose to chief minister. As leader of the Pakistan Muslim League, the primary party of the Islamic Democratic Alliance coalition, he was first elected Pakistan’s prime minister in October 1990. His election followed the dismissal of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto by Pres. Farooq Leghari, who made use of a constitutional clause that gave him the authority, as president, to dismiss the elected government if he deemed that government to be corrupt or inefficient.

During his first term, Sharif initiated an ambitious program of economic reform, privatizing a range of state-owned businesses. Facing ongoing conflict over the Kashmir region and citing a need to secure itself against a nuclear India, Pakistan continued to defy U.S. calls for it to suspend its nuclear program; in response, the United States halted its financial assistance. Sharif also faced increasing opposition as he attempted to maintain the middle path between the Islamic right wing and the social democrats. In 1993 Sharif too was dismissed on grounds similar to those for which Bhutto had been ushered out of office. Bhutto then succeeded him, and Sharif continued to be her vocal opponent. In the 1997 elections held after Bhutto’s next dismissal, Sharif returned to serve a second term as prime minister.

Soon after taking office for the second time, Sharif, backed also by Bhutto, forced the elimination of the constitutional provision that had enabled his previous dismissal from office. Sharif also set about trimming the powers of the president and the military. His attempt to block the appointment of five additional judges to the Supreme Court late in the year, however, sparked a constitutional crisis. Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, another of Sharif’s rivals, was later suspended from the court on a technicality. Rather than appoint a replacement for the chief justice, Leghari unexpectedly resigned from his post after bitterly accusing Sharif of attempting to grab sole power. The twin exits of the president and of the chief justice appeared to be another major triumph for Sharif.

Despite a strong mandate, Sharif’s government faced severe problems. Austerity measures implemented at the behest of the International Monetary Fund reduced government spending at a time when about half the country’s money was being allocated to servicing the debt. With an economy in shambles, enormous foreign debt, widespread corruption, graft, separatist fighting, and an ongoing dispute with neighbouring India, Sharif faced a difficult task in leading the country forward.

In the late 1990s, Pakistan’s economic situation continued to deteriorate. Sanctions imposed by the West in response to the detonation of nuclear devices by Pakistan exacerbated the crisis, and in 1998 Pakistan was nearing bankruptcy. Sharif soon found himself in conflict with a new army commander, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and in late 1999 allegedly refused to allow Musharraf’s aircraft to land. Sharif was overthrown by Musharraf in a military coup d’état almost immediately and was subsequently tried on charges of hijacking and terrorism, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2000, having agreed to leave Pakistan for 10 years in exchange for having his jail sentence commuted, Sharif was released from prison and went into exile in Saudi Arabia.

Encouraged by a 2007 Supreme Court decision which ruled that he was free to reenter the country, Sharif returned to Pakistan in September of that year, hoping to galvanize public support for the removal of Musharraf’s increasingly unpopular rule. The Musharraf government, however, bypassed the Supreme Court ruling and arranged for Sharif’s summary arrest and deportation back to Saudi Arabia within hours of his return, a move perceived by many as flouting the law. In a visit to Saudi Arabia several weeks later, Musharraf requested that the Saudi leadership cooperate in keeping his opponent abroad until the elections scheduled for early the following year had been held; in response, King ʿAbd Allāh expressed a growing reluctance to maintain Saudi complicity in Sharif’s exile.

In late November 2007, Musharraf permitted Sharif, along with his wife and brother, to arrive unimpeded in Pakistan on an aircraft provided by ʿAbd Allāh. Underscoring Sharif’s sustained popularity, his arrival was marked by crowds of supporters; these celebrations were largely unhindered by police. Upon his return, Sharif registered to run in the elections set for the following January, though he announced his refusal to stand as prime minister under Musharraf and indicated that an opposition boycott of the vote remained an option. In addition, Sharif called for the return of a number of Supreme Court judges whom Musharraf, anticipating that they would rule to annul his reelection, had purged.